


And at last I see the light

by Borka



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rapunzel Fusion, Alternate Universe - Tangled (2010) Fusion, How Do I Tag, If ya'll know better tags let me know, Inspired by Tangled (2010), Jisung is sheltered, M/M, Rapunzel Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2020-10-05 18:38:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20493422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Borka/pseuds/Borka
Summary: Magically long-haired Han Jisung has spent his entire life in a tower, but now that a runaway thief, Lee Minho, has stumbled upon his tower, he is about to discover the world for the first time, and who he really is.  They meet people along the way, and dodge others.  Their new unlikely friends help them in their times of need, and there may be a little (a lot) of romance throughout.-Basically, this is a Rapunzel au that literally no one asked for.  I'm really bad at descriptions, just please read it.





	1. INTRODUCTION

**Author's Note:**

> I want to apologize to all the readers who like this. I'm not discontinuing it or anything but I kinda just write what I feel when I feel and right now I'm working on something else that I'm super excited about. I will update this at some point, just not sure when.
> 
> Also, is there anyone who'd be willing to beta read? It'd would mostly be catching mistakes I didn't see, finding places where I should flesh out, and letting me know if something is confused and could be explained better.

_INTRODUCTION _

_ The exact events of that night remain unknown, but one thing everyone agrees on is that some sick person kidnapped the royal baby, only a few days old; for the apparent magic he possessed. You see, a blonde hair blue eyes baby isn't the rarest occurrence ever. A blonde haired, blue eyed baby born to two very much korean parents, black eyes and even blacker hair and all, is a bit more rare. _

_ Now, you must be thinking, 'obviously, the queen had an affair' and that is a fair assumption. However, no one in the came to that conclusion; the reason being the miracle that was a single, sun dropped flower. It was the only one in existence, and it was the thing of legends. No one knew where it was, or if it even existed. But when the queen started experiencing complications days before the date she was due to have her baby boy, desperate measures were taken. Teams of people, soldiers and civilian volunteers scoured the entirety of the kingdom of South Korea. Miraculously, a group found the flower at the edge of the kingdom. It was by accident, the flower being very well hidden._

_ A storm tore at all the surrounding nature but the flower stood tall, almost glowing, proudly in the wind. It almost wasn't found, the storm making it too dangerous to venture out to the cliff it resided on. One brave volunteer went out on their own and risked their life, and decision that would ultimately save both the queen and the then unborn prince. The flower's magic saved the queen and allowed for her to give birth to the beautiful, albeit unusual, prince Han Jisung. His blonde hair was already thick and his blue eyes bright and striking. The King and Queen proudly presented their son to an astounded and ecstatic kingdom. _

_ One thing, however, that was not included in the legends of the flower, was of the old crone used the magic flower to keep herself young and beautiful for nearly a millennia. She hid the flower away from prying eyes, too scared to risk trying to move the flower. When her precious flower was stolen, she acted fast. She watched the castle, finding the perfect time to sneak in. It should have taken much longer to break in, but she didn't have that kind of time. She surveyed as long as possible, but her clock was ticking. As the days went by, she watched her face grow wrinkly and her hair become salted. _

_ The night she broke into the King and Queen's castle, she had only intended on stealing a lock of hair from the baby and get out quick. She knew she had to be in and out because guards would arrive quickly. But when she snipped the lock of hair, she was horrified to watch it turn a dull brown in her hands and all the way to the roots, losing all its luster. The sound of footsteps pounding up the castle stairs pulled her out of her shock. Panicked, she did the only thing she could think of. The old croon scooped the crying royal baby into her arms and pulled her robe over in a poor attempt of covering the baby. _

_ The last the King and Queen saw of their precious baby boy was his hand and hair peeking out of the tattered cloak billowing in the wind of the window. And then both the creon and the baby were gone, guard bursting through the bedroom doors a moment later. After that, many efforts to find the baby were made in vain. No attempts of a new baby were made, the rulers too heartbroken. The Queen kept her faith, and continued to believe that one day, her baby would come back to her. They went as far as to have his crown made, and it's kept in it's own room awaiting the return of it's rightful owner._


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a really short chapter and the first few are probably gonna be on the shorter side.

Han Jisung wouldn't necessarily call himself lonely. He has Seungmin afterall. He's (almost) always welcome company. No, he'd more likely call it boredom. He loves his companion and he has plenty of hobbies, but 17 years of the same thing can grow tiresome.

It seems he's read every book in existence, painted every surface, knitted a whole wardrobe, made an artillery of candles, baked every recipe in existence, and played thousands upon thousands of games of chess. There's only so much you can do in tower. 

"What are you thinking?" Seungmin questioned.

Ah, Seungmin. Jisung's trusty companion. His mother brought him to his tower to watch Jisung and make sure he doesn't get himself in trouble when he was 11. Even though Seungmin is nearly a month younger, he's much more mature, or so he'd like to think. Mother thought he was a necessary addition to the household after Jisung shaved the side of his head. She about had a heart attack and brought Seungmin to the tower from an orphanage the next day. Since then, they became extremely close, and Jisung scares the ever loving shit out of Seungmin everyday with all the mischief he gets into.

"What's it to you, mom?" Jisung bit back. At the moment, he was rifling through the closet off the main room. 

"Just play a game with me. I can't handle your shit today."

"Language, Seungmin! I don't appreciate that kind of language!" 

Seungmin rolled eyes at Jisung. "Right, because you don't swear all the time."

Jisung peeked out the door, meeting his friend's eyes with a mischievous smile. "But that's me. I can't have you be corrupted, Minnie. You're too precious for this cruel world."

"All you've seen of the world is this tower and what you can see out the window. Don't talk to me about the _ cruel world _." 

Jisung huffed and walked to sit in front of Seungmin in the middle of the floor, tugging a stray piece of hair out from the death trap that was the closet. 

"What do you propose we do, then?" Seungmin thought for a moment. Finally, his eyes lit up.

"We can play hide and seek!" Jisung gave him a hard stare.

"We're almost 18 Seungmin."

"And?"

Jisung couldn't argue with that amazing point, and that's how they spent their afternoon until Mother showed around 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so unbelievably unmotivated to write. I wanna write so much but everytime I try I just blank. I swear I'm gonna finish this, it's just gonna take a bit


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so bad at remembering to write sorry 😂 Also I'm bad at writing and especially terrible at dialogue. Just hang in I promise it'll mediocre by time I finish (if I finish) 
> 
> Sorry all my chapter are so short 😩

Minho loves this feeling. Nothing is more exhilarating than breaking the rules, and Minho is going straight to the top. The plan was simple. He was much smaller than his burley companions, so he was to be lowered into the crown room via rope, bag the crown, then skedaddle. Easy peasy. 

Except Minho is mouthy and couldn't help himself. It was way too easy and just boring if there wasn't a little excitement. So with the crown in his bag with no reaction, he just had to say something when the oblivious head guard directly in front of him made the only movement Minho had seen in all his time scoping the room.

He sneezed.

Naturally, Minho did the polite thing and blessed him, his innocent tone counteracted by his mischievous smirk, then tugged on the rope suspending him.

By the time the guard had realized crowns don't speak, and therefore not capable of such pleasantries nor able to appreciate his thanks in response, Minho was already halfway out of the room. One hand dangling the bag very obviously holding the crown and the other waving a dainty four-finger wave. 

The guard barked out orders, "Catch them!", and the thieves were already fleeing. They jumped from roof to roof, Minho with a clear lead. The three men had a head start but the royal guard had horses so they were quickly losing ground.

Minho lead his accomplices over the only bridge out of the capital city and into the surrounding forest. His plan was to lose their pursuers and maybe a little more. The sound of shouting and thumping mixed with the heavy breathing of his companions and his own footsteps but Minho couldn't care less. He was having the time of his life. A huge smile stretched across his face, high on adrenaline and life.

"Lee! That cliff!" shouted the larger of his two companions. Minho glanced over his shoulder and saw him pointing to a cliff towards their right. Both of the men's faces were bright red, nearly purple.

For a moment, Minho wondered how in the hell he allowed himself to get involved with them. For one, they were older- mid to late late thirties, maybe even early forties, he's not quite sure- and they weren't exactly easy to work with. They insisted on taking the majority of the 'earnings' the group received all because they are the plan makers. Minho will hand it to them, they are rather intelligent but they are hardly the essential part of their trio. Minho does most of the heavy lifting and works with them in their planning. 

Which brings him to his second point. They aren't physically capable of executing the difficult stuff, leaving Minho to do most of the leg work. Plus, they kinda stick out like sore thumbs. Kang was on the heavier side. If Minho was a water bottle, Kang would be a water jug. Seo was one of the tallest people Minho had ever met. He was well over six foot. If Minho had to guess, he'd say the man was 6'9", 6'10". Granted, Minho wasn't exactly inconspicuous with his looks, but uses them to his advantage.

Rolling his eyes, he switched his path. They always take the fun out of things. They lifted him first and Minho saw his opportunity. After making it to the top, he turned and looked back at the men. He could see their faces go from red to purple when they saw his face.

"Don't you fucking dare Lee! We'll kill you!" Seo shouted. Minho's smirk grew into a grin.

"Ta ta, boys!" 

He wagged his fingers at them and swaggered away. As soon as he knew he was out of their sight, he took off. The impending sound of horse hooves pounded in his ears and he knew he needed to find somewhere to hide soon.

He smirked at the now distant shouting of his partners in crime being apprehended. He felt almost weightless, his feet carrying him without thoughts of anywhere specific to go. 

A large rock in front of a wall of vines caught his eye and he swiftly dove behind it. The grip on his bag's strap clenched tighter unconsciously when the guards galloped past. One horse came so close Minho was sure it's mount would spot him over the rock from their vantage point.

Soon, however, the clopping and shouting receded into the distance. 

The small break was enough for Minho's adrenaline to leave him and as soon as he was sure he was alone, he let out a loud huff of air. Rolling back off the feet he was currently crouched on, he leaned against the wall.

At least that's what he meant to do.

Instead of hitting the solid wall, his back fell straight through the vines like clipping through a map in a video game. His eyes took a second to adjust to the sudden darkness.

He was in a cave. Maybe a tunnel? There was light coming in from the other otherside. Being too tired to really get up yet, he pulled himself all the way through the vines to stay out of sight of any guards that happened to double back. 

After a few minutes, Minho pulled himself with a groan. Patting his body, he did a mental inventory. Everything was there. His feet dragged as he made his way through towards the light.

The sound of footsteps halted him. Heels. A woman. The subtle sound of a drag on the dirt told him she was wearing a long dress or a cloak of some sort. His eyes scanned his surroundings. He could vaguely see a small figure walking towards him. He knew she wouldn't be able to see him because the vines would block out the light from the other end, thus hiding his silhouette. His presence would soon be discovered if he didn't think fast.

He scanned his eyes around again, this time finding a crack in the wall to his right. Not very wide or deep but it's dark. 

Taking soft steps, Minho took the three steps required to reach the crack. He held his breath as a young woman passed his hiding spot. Up this close, he could make out her thick curly hair. She had full lips and a gently sloping nose bridge. Her head probably came just below his armpit.

He didn't move till he heard the vines shift, and even then waited at least a solid minute. As he made his way to the opening, he was very aware of the soft click that came with every step. 

Dark gave way to light and took Minho's breath away. The clearing he entered was beautiful. His eyes shifted rapidly trying to take in the lush greenery.

His eyes fell on a stream and followed it as it wound around the small clearing. The view of the stream was blocked by a line of trees. Minho shifted his gaze from the stream to the moss covered trees. 

The man's eyes widened when the broke above the tree line and saw the tall tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking about writing highschool softball AU for a girl group. It'll probably end up being twice mixed with other groups. The main ship would be Jeongyeon and Nayeon. What I'm wondering is (1.) Would anyone read it? Or be interested at all? And (2.) If so, what other ships would you like me to add? I don't know girl groups as well so I'd have to either do some research on the girls to really see their personalities or have someone tell me. 
> 
> I just love sports AUs and I know softball really well because I play it. Plus there aren't as many girl groups fanfics and I need me some girl on girl action.
> 
> Don't forget to give some kudos if you like it and please comment. It really makes me feel good when I get responses. I don't even care if it's criticism, I could use it. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Refrences to panic attacks and domestic abuse. Verbal abuse and emotional manipulation. If any of these things affect, please read at your own risk. Stay safe. It's a Rapunzel, if those things affect your too much, you dont necessarily need to read this chapter since it's not that hard to Google the plot or watch the movie. This is only a work of fiction and I dont want anyone putting themselves at risk for something that isn't that important.
> 
> That being said, I hope y'all enjoy this, sorry I kinda suck at writing, especially dialogue. I'll get better at it over time I promise! Let me know if you see any mistakes or have any qualms about the story.
> 
> Please remember to give some kudos if you like it, and comment! Comments are always appreciated whether it's praise or criticism. Love y'all!

Jisung cringed when he heard a shrill voice call him out of his hiding spot. He was sure he was going to win, like he does almost every time. Honestly, he doesn't know why Seungmin always wants to play hide and seek when he loses every time.

With a sigh, Jisung dropped from his spot in the rafters. He felt a glare and turned to see a grumpy young man half crouching next to an open wardrobe. 

"What?"

"That's entirely unfair! You know I can't even see all the way up in the rafters, let alone climb up there!"

Jisung rolled his eyes as he wrapped his hair around the hook just outside his window. "That's what makes it such a good hiding spot! Don't be a sore loser, Minnie."

Seungmin huffed but didn't say any more. He made his way towards the disaster closet and stood next to it with his hands folded in front of him. Mother doesn't like him getting in the way. He's only there to assist, only to speak unless spoken to. Never act out. To hide in the background unless needed.

The small woman stepped out of the loop she made in Jisung's hair. He remembers when he was younger his arms would ache after pulling her up the tower, but he's since built up his arm strength. 

When they were 16, he and Seungmin had a health kick and Jisung begged his mother for weights. Seungmin has since given up on heavy weightlifting but occasionally joins Jisung when he works out. 

"Baby sit down. Let me brush your hair would you?" 

Jisung nodded excitedly. Once they go through their tradition of him singing to her, they normally talk for a while. He's planning on asking her about going to see the lights. He's been building up to asking for years. Surely she'll let him go now that he's turning 18, right?

A happy sigh came from just over Jisung's left shoulder. Her hands were always gentle and meticulous. He could see the effects his glowing hair on his mother's face in the mirror. The light lit under her chin made her angular face look intimidating. A nauseous feeling built up in Jisungs stomach. 

She's scary when she's angry.

Jisung rubbed unconsciously at his ribs. They weren't bruised anymore but it somehow still ached. His mother's low voice drew his attention.

"How was your day?"

She doesn't really care. She's only looking for a way to talk about her own day. Still, she'd be angry if Jisung didn't say more than a simple good.

There are a lot of rules to communicating with his mother.

"Seungmin and I played hide and seek," She sent said boy a sharp look. His jaw clenched but he remained staring past them out the window. "He lost again, like always. Anyways, I've been thinking of what I wanted for my birthday."

Jisung wanted to move on from the topic of Seungmin quickly. He always forgets to exclude him from his retelling of the day. The topic change worked and the woman's face lit up. "Oh yeah? And what is it that you want?"

He gulped nervously and glanced towards Seungmin. He was peering at him from the corner of his eyes. His head nodded slightly, a silent gesture to go on. Jisung straightened his back and made eye contact with the woman in the mirror.

On the surface, her expression looked soft. She wore a small smile and her hands were still gently pulling through Jisung's hair. Her large eyes looked kind but they both knew better. They had an underlying sharpness to them that few would be able to pick up on. But Jisung could.

Jisung could.

"I was just hoping," he took a deep breath. "If I could maybe possibly go to see the magic floating lights?"

She blinked owlishly at him. "What?"

All his words had strung together and it was impossible to distinguish where one word ended and the next began. 

Taking a deep breath, Jisung restarted. "I thought that since, you know, I'm turning 18, and I'm going to be an adult, and since adults have more responsibilities and are more mature-"

"Get to the point."

"Could I please go see the magic floating lights? I'm going to be an adult and I can bring Seungmin to watch me and make sure I return safely."

Any further argument died in his throat. The look on his mother's face was deadly. Suddenly, breathing became a very difficult task. His hands were shaking and he could feel sweat run down his neck.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5-

The counting didn't help. The silence stretched on.

The petite woman sighed and slowly set the brush on the ground beside her stool. Jisung's eyes tracked her every movement without blinking.

"Jisung, we've talked about this. You can not leave this tower. Ever."

"But moth-"

"Enough!" He flinched at the loud, harsh tone, "The world is a dangerous place. Baby, your no match for the monsters that lurk in the darkness. Do I not provide enough? Am I failing as your mother?"

Guilt creeps into Jisung's mind at his mother's sad tone. He knows he's being selfish for asking such things, but it's his one dream. He's not going to give up just yet. 

He turns to look at her directly.

"Please mother, one trip? One trip, and I'll never leave again." He pleaded with his eyes.

The hope fades and guilt takes over completely when the woman's beautiful face crumples and tears begin streaming down her face.

Jisung rushes forward and holds his mother in his arms. She's not much shorter, standing at 5'2. Two inches wasn't much of a difference, but she felt so small and delicate in his arms. She was shaking and it felt like she could break any second.

"I just want to keep you safe. You'd be destroyed in the real world. I'm trying my best, I'm sorry it's not enough for you. Please forgive my shortcomings."

"Of course, I'm sorry for asking. I understand, I don't need to see the floating lights."

His face brightens when he sees her wipe her tears and give him a small smile. 

"Really?"

"Really."

Her mood shifted and she looked happy. "Good."

She proceeded to tell him about her day, what the evil greedy man tried to get her to pay, and how the scary beggar accosted her on her way out of the city. Jisung shivered at the thought of such evils. 

He walked her to the window and slowly lowered her with his hair, her shouting promises of return and affection. As soon as she was out of eye sight, his smile fell. Suddenly he felt exhausted.

Shakily, he lowered himself on the windowsill and let out a sigh. After taking some deep breaths, he looked back up.

The curtains were pulled down mostly, but he could still see his painting of the lights. He told himself it's fine, he didn't need to go see them. He's fine.

For now.


End file.
